Reactions mixed to home mesh networking effort

Reaction to plans to create a mesh standard for home networks has been mixed. Backers praise the effort as the future of whole home coverage, competitors from the Zigbee Alliance critique it as a late comer, those with who have worked on other wireless mesh standards indicate it won't be easy—and some still haven't heard about it.

In late April, an Atheros Communications executive said he was trying to organize a standards effort to create a mesh capability that would span Wi-Fi and the wired technologies of the Multimedia over Coax Alliance and the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. The effort aims to create hybrid wired/wireless links that can collaborate to cover a home of any size.

"To me that is the home network for the next 15 years," said Tom Lookabaugh, chief technology officer of Entropic Communications, the leading provider of MoCA silicon.

Lookabaugh said he was aware of the effort which is still debating whether it will create an ad hoc consortium or start a new IEEE standards group. "Some OEMs and carriers are already starting to put together MoCA-to-Wi-Fi bridges," he said.

Stefano Galli, a powerline specialist and lead scientist with Panasonic's R&D group in the U.S. welcomed the effort, but said he was not previously aware of it.